


Exactly the Same

by Blurble



Category: Aveyond
Genre: F/M, Not Canon Compliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-01
Updated: 2015-12-01
Packaged: 2018-05-04 08:29:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5327417
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blurble/pseuds/Blurble





	Exactly the Same

When they got to the Arishta isles-- which was a whole adventure in itself, involving, among other things, mermaids and gigantic purple sea elephants-- they spent most of the first month just settling in and trying to get their bearings in a strange, unfamiliar place and a strange, unfamiliar culture.   
  
Mel was mostly busy trying to get the hang of the Academy's schedule, not to mention navigating the complex Academy social scene-- No, really, not to mention it. She was committed to ignoring it as steadfastly as possible, in the hopes that it would then go away.  
  
Nonetheless, her days were so full that she was a bit shocked that Edward, who had to deal with political alliances and meetings with the Empress on top of everything else, had managed to find the time to track down a chapel.  
  
On second thought... No really, she shouldn't have been surprised.   
  
" _No_ , Edward," she said, when she found him, for the millionth time (fourteenth, actually, but who's counting? Definitely not her. She didn't find this latest stunt of his cute in the slightest. Not at all. No. He should get over himself, he of the cute easily ruffled hair. Argh). "I'm not marrying you!"  
  
"Why not?" He said. Sulked. Pouted. Stared up at her with-- dammit, not the puppy eyes, she was in a really bad angle to be receiving the puppy eyes, they look huge and hurt and innocent (DAMMIT. Edward was the furthest possible thing from thing from  _innocent_  the universe could possibly think up. He knew full well he was manipulating her. He was doing it shamelessly, the  
conniving little naive open-minded overly eager way too enthusiastic--  _stupid. boy_. AGH. Mel was going crazy. Clinically. She knew it.)  
  
She closed her eyes, to cut off the puppy eyes (if she looked at them for a second longer, her heart would melt. She knew this. Worse, Edward knew this. It was a problem). She refused to answer.  
  
"Why not?" He pressed. "You already did, once!"  
  
"That," she said, "was then. This is now."  
  
"What changed?" He protested, standing up. "I'm still the same, you're still the same, we still love--"  
  
She slammed her hand over his mouth just to stop him from ever finishing that highly embarrassing sentence.  
  
"Did you forget the part where our wedding ceremony never actually happened?" She asked. "We've never been married, Edward, and that's the way it's supposed to be. We're completely not suited for each other."  
  
"C-comple-" He spluttered. "What?  _Why_? And don't give me your 'you're a noble, I'm a commoner' speech again, Mel, you know full well it's ridiculous."  
  
"It happens to be true!"  
  
"It's completely irrelevant! But look, if you actually care this much... Mordred Darkthrop helped build Hapsburg, didn't he? As far as the universe is concerned that probably makes him a noble, too. So now you have absolutely no excuses, let's go get married, c'mon."   
  
He grabbed her by the wrist.   
  
She pulled away. "And what about the part where you married someone else? Did you forget  _that_?"  
  
"Lydia annulled our marriage ages ago, Mel!"  
  
"That's not the  _point_!"  
  
"None of this is the point, Mel! I don't get why you're being so ridiculous!"  
  
"Because I don't want to get married to you, Edward! Why is this so hard for you to get into your thick skull!? Is it absolutely impossible for you to believe that there's a single girl out there in the world who might  _not_ want to swoon over winning charms?"  
  
"...You think I have winning charms?" Edward said, incredulously.  
  
Mel bit back a scream.  
  
She closed her eyes. She breathed deeply.  
  
"I just don't understand why you're so eager for us to get married, Edward. What's wrong with what we have now? Why can't we just be friends? It's worked so far. Why should we mess with it, why should we mess it up?"  
  
"Ah." He said.  
  
"What 'ah'?"  
  
"Ah, I get it." He said, a look of absolute smugness plastered across his face.   
  
"Get  _what_? Stop looking at me like that!"  
  
"Mel, Mel, Mel," he said, and hugged her. "I promise you, nothing is going to change when we get married. I'm not going to stop being friends with you. I promise, everything will be exactly the same. Trust me."  
  
"...If everything's going to be exactly the same, why even bother?" She said, muffled against his chest.  
  
He laughed.  
  
\---  
  
He lied.  
  
The wedding in Veldarah was frankly weird-- it involved passing roses around in a circle, and then  _skipping in tandem_ , but okay, totally different continent, new culture, whatever.  
  
The problem was afterwards.  
  
The problem was when they left the chapel and Edward, grinning ear to ear like a gigantic freak, stopped literally  _everyone_  in the street and said: "Do you see this girl? Her name's Mel. And she's my wife! We're married!"  
  
(To which most of the townspeople responded with "congratulations" or some such thing, although one or two of them backed away slowly (a far more sane reaction, in Mel's opinion))  
  
The problem was when she grabbed him by the sleeve and said, sharply, " _Edward_." And he turned around and--  
  
and--  
  
kissed her full on the lips  _right in the middle of the street_.  
  
She was pretty sure she heard cheering, but it was hard to tell because she felt like she was about to pass out from pure shock.  
  
She pulled away as forcefully as she could (the minute or two where she... definitely did not push him away... could be chalked up to madness)  
  
Her face was flaming. She wanted to crawl into a hole and never be seen again.  
  
"Are you okay?" Edward asked, suddenly concerned. Arm around her waist.  
  
" _No_ ," she snapped, trying to pull away.  
  
He felt her forehead.  
  
"You seem flushed."  
  
"That's because I'm  _humiliated_ ," she hissed back.   
  
"...What? Why?" He asked.  
  
"You- You don't- You didn't need to announce it to  _everyone_!" She said.   
  
He glanced around, and finally seemed to notice the slightly amused crowd that had gathered.  
  
"Alright," he said. "I'm sorry, I got carried away."  
  
He kissed her on the forehead.  
  
"But Mel," he whispered. "We're finally married! For real! You're not Lydia! I'm not Belf's older brother! It's amazing!"  
  
"Yeah, yeah," she said, grumpily, but allowed herself to soften against him. "...Wait. Belf's what?"   
  
\---  
  
"And this is my wife, Mel!" Edward announced. For around the fiftieth time that evening.  
  
For around the fiftieth time that evening, Mel flushed and looked away.  
  
Edward had taken real delight in introducing her like that-- well, pretty much everywhere.  
  
Still, tonight, with some three hundred nobles gathered at some gala dinner, there was a bit too much introducing going on for Mel's taste.  
  
She knew she had to bear with it, for Edward's sake. She was really proud of him, trying to get his throne back (the irony of this vis-a-vis her personal thing against nobles was waved away as this being  _different_ , because this was Edward, taking responsibility, not just some random rich fathead pursuing power). She knew he needed support. Nonetheless...  
  
"Do you have to phrase it like that?" she asked him.   
  
"What do you mean?" He said, too innocently.  
  
"Calling me your... wife." she said. Coughed at the last word.   
  
"It's true, isn't it?"  
  
"I don't go around to everyone calling you my husband!" She protested.  
  
"Well, why don't you?" He asked.   
  
"It's too embarrassing," she muttered, and wriggled her toes, and wished this evening was over.  
  
\---  
  
But no. No, the horrors didn't end there.  
  
The news reached them that Stella had been kidnapped. And so they left, together with Yvette (who had delivered the news) and Te'ijal and Galahad, who had finally come on a long-promised visit from Sedona.   
  
Te'ijal was busy getting Galahad to pamper her-- it was clear she had gotten used to this as her sole source of comfort over the horrible tragedy of being turned into a human.   
  
Yvette had turned into a bird and flown up to nest in a tree/keep guard.   
  
So it was Mel and Edward left to make camp, and it was Mel who discovered that Edward had packed only one tent.   
  
...and only one extra-large sleeping bag.  
  
She lifted it up and stared at him accusingly.  
  
He shrugged.  
  
She stared at him accusingly.  
  
He whistled innocently.   
  
She groaned.  
  
She should never have agreed to marry him.  
  
And he was  _so_  getting kicked out of the tent tonight.


End file.
